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Ada Lovelace… Does the name rings a bell?

Well, it should. Ada Lovelace, Countess of Lovelace, is an English mathematician and a writer. Most of you would think ‘So? We have a lot of those these days’. So what would lit a spark in me to write about her today?

She was born on this day, in 1815 and she died at the age of 36, on the 27th of November 1852, she lived a very short life, most people who lived most of a century may think their lives were short, so they’ll probably think that 36 is but a moment spent on planet earth. But…

Ada did in her 36 years in our world something we can never have lived without our entire lives. You are surely curious to know what? So here’s a hint… You probably wouldn’t have been able to see this post if wasn’t for her.

Ada was Chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage‘s (father of the computer) early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine. Because of this, she is often considered the world’s first computer programmer. Let’s say that again… The world’s first computer programmer.

Happy birthday, Ada! Thanks to your work the world will forever be able to know and celebrate your birthday today.

You can learn more about her life, works, family and her final years here: Ada Loevlace

It is not really fair to call Babbage the Father of the Computer, since Ada took his ideas and went places Babbage could not conceive of, they say in Tennis both players play with the same ball, but only one can score a point with it, and Lady Lovelace was time and again the person who scored, and I don’t think that just because Babbage brought the ball to the game he deserves to be called the Father when he stole and claimed credit for all her points. There is a very good movie called “Conceiving Ada” about her life.

The word ‘father’ that we use when we talk about science history is actually meant to refer that that person’s work was the first thing that led to the invention, it doesn’t mean that he was the one most credited, so it’s not that he brought the ball to the court, he was the first to draw the outline of that court.
But I do agree, Ada did take the game to a whole new level, so if he’s the father, then she is the goddess of computer, mate!